President Droupadi Murmu will fly a Rafale fighter jet from the Ambala Air Force Base in Haryana on Wednesday, October 29, the Rashtrapati Bhavan announced on Tuesday.
India used these jets to launch attacks on terrorist hideouts in Pakistan as part of Operation Sindoor.
Earlier, former presidents APJ Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil have both undertaken sorties in fighter jets. Kalam and Patil undertook combat flights in the Shukhoi-30 MKI.
Murmu herself flew a Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jet on 8 April 2023, making her the third female President of India to do so.
The Rashtrapati Bhavan issued a statement on Tuesday saying, “President of India Smt Droupadi Murmu will visit Ambala, Haryana tomorrow to conduct a Rafale sortie.”
On Tuesday, the President opened the eighth session of the First Plenary Session of the Solar Alliance International Assembly in the state capital, the President’s Secretariat said.
At the event, the President spoke about the harmful effects of climate change and called for concrete steps to mitigate this change.
“Access to affordable and clean energy strengthens communities, drives local economies and opens up opportunities that extend far beyond providing electricity,” ANI quoted the president as saying at the event. Watch the President’s speech at the event here:
The Rafale jets, manufactured by the French aerospace company Dassault Aviation, were first inducted into the Indian Air Force in September 2020.
Rafale jets: Everything you need to know
Production of the Rafale began in France after the country split with the UK, Spain, Germany and Italy in an attempt to jointly produce a future-ready fighter in the late 1970s.
After the dispute, France continued with its own project involving most of its major defense companies. The Rafale was formally introduced in 2001 for the French Air Force and French Navy.
Rafale jets can reach a maximum speed of 1,912 km/h at high altitudes and 1,390 km/h at lower altitudes.
There are several variants of the Rafale jet, with the Indian Air Force using the Rafale DH two-seat variant and the Rafale MH single-seat variant. The Indian Navy uses a single-seat variant of the Rafale MH.
Apart from India and France, other countries that use Rafale jets include Croatia, Egypt, Greece, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Indonesia and Serbia have also ordered Rafale jets. While Indonesia will receive its delivery in 2026, Serbia will receive 12 Rafale aircraft by 2029.
(TagstransLate)Rale Jets
